


Thousandfurs

by TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, And their good looks, But then I mostly stole his name, M/M, No spoilers of any kind, Unless you've never heard of Castiel, fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 13:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2653067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving/pseuds/TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He runs away to avoid a marriage and ends up as a kitchen boy.<br/>(Or - go read the actual fairy tale, because it's better)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thousandfurs

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of this, except the order in which most of the words are put together. 
> 
> And I would like to add: I actually like this fairy tale, so, sorry for doing this to it, but I had fun doing it :)
> 
> Critisicm is most welcome

Once upon a time a king and queen ruled jointly over a peaceful and overall happy kingdom. They had a son with hair as black as a raven wing and eyes bluer than the brightest sapphire, and he was what they treasured the most. Sadly the king fell ill, and lying on his death bed he summoned his grieving wife, telling her that when she chose to remarry, she should chose a man who was at least as just and handsome as he was. When the queen agreed to this, the king closed his eyes and died. The land was dressed in black and everybody mourned the loss of their king, but after a year life went on as normal for most. However, the queen seemed reluctant to move on, and before long her advisors began to insist that she should remarry. She was, after all, still fairly young, and it would be good for the kingdom to have more than one potential heir. She finally agreed, but reminded them, that her future husband had to be both just and handsome. And so the search for such a man began: Proclamations was send all over the land, allowing every man to come to the castle and request the queen’s hand in marriage. But she turned them all away, since they were neither handsome nor just enough to compare to her late husband. But then one day she happened upon the throne room where the prince was listening to two peasants, who had been at the market and one had had a pair of oxen with him, and the other a pair of horses. While the two men had been sitting at the tavern drinking beer, the horse had foaled and the filly had wandered off and ended next to the two oxen. Now both men claimed ownership of the filly, and they were unable to reach an agreement. The prince listened dutifully to both men, asking a few questions and then straightening in his seat and with a firm gaze at both men, said: “The filly stays with its mother. And before you start complaining I am willing to forfeit **the both of you** any expenses you’d normally pay for these proceedings.” The two peasants started complaining, but the prince rose and said, “leave, or none of you will have animals to bring home”, which obviously got the two men moving, bowing to the prince as they hurried out the room. The queen watched her son intently, thinking her late husband would have handled that much the same way, when the prince was suddenly caught in a ray of sun light, that made his hair shine and his eyes sparkle like jewels. At the sight a smile broke on the queen’s face, ‘cause now she could honor her dying husband’s last wish.

When the queen made the announcement that she had chosen her future king everybody was thrilled, they were in fact so happy, that when she told them the chosen was her son, nobody batted an eye but simply gave her their blessing. The prince however was less than thrilled. He loved his mother, sure, but there were two reasons he really didn’t enjoy the idea. First off, she was his **mother** and he may have been a little sheltered and a lot naïve, but he still knew that was wrong, and second, even if he was willing to overlook the parental bond he just wasn’t into women. But he had soon learned that what he said didn’t matter all that much, so he figured if he couldn’t make them see reason he could make demands impossible to meet and like that forever hold the marriage off. So he went to the queen and her advisors, and with his most blank expression and neutral voice demanded three shirts, one as dark as the night, one as silver as the moon and one as blue as the purest sapphire, and finally a mantle made from the skin of every animal in the kingdom. They agreed and content that he had made them an impossible task he went on with his days as before. The queen had it proclaimed all over the land what her son had demanded and within a few years she had every item he had asked for. Presented with the shirts and the mantle the prince had to admit that his demands had been fulfilled and the wedding was scheduled the following morning. But the prince hadn’t changed his opinion on marrying his mother, so he packed the shirts, a gold ring, a gold necklace and a gold bracelet, covered his face and hands with soot and wrapped himself in the mantle, and then he left the castle.

He walked all night and the following day, and by sunset he found himself in the middle of a large forest. Here he happened upon a hollow tree, and he decided that would be a good place to sleep. So he climbed it, made himself comfortable and wrapped himself even closer in the mantle to keep warm while he slept. He was so exhausted that he didn’t as much as stir at the sound of horns shortly after dawn, nor the glam of dogs or the roar of hunting rifles, in fact it was first around noon when the sound of voices drifted upwards and into his dreams that he slowly awoke, and looking down he saw five hunters in a heated discussion while pointing up at the prince in the tree. It soon became clear to the prince that the hunters thought he was some kind of animal, and they were discussing whether they should shoot him, because he might be eatable or dangerous, or if they should leave him alone, since he was no threat and so rare that they had no idea what he was. Deciding he would prefer not to be shot, the prince cleared his throat and called down to the hunters: “I’m neither food nor a danger, I’m just a poor orphan looking for a place to stay and earn a living.” Obviously startled the hunters looked closer at the thing in the tree, and now they saw that it was not some kind of exotic animal, but rather a person in a mantle made of thousand furs, so they invited him to join them, telling they were hunters at the castle in the distance and if he would follow them maybe there was a job as a kitchen boy there. So the prince followed them, and the cook took an immediate liking to him and hired him. However he refused to tell them his name, and he never shed the mantle he wore, and soon everybody called him Thousandfurs.

***

Of course the prince sometimes suffered from home sickness, but all in all he adjusted pretty well to his new life as a servant, and he even found that he enjoyed doing things, instead of simply sitting and listening to people complaining over things that didn’t matter all that much. He even got used to never hearing his name, and he grew a little fond of the name Thousandfurs that he was bestowed. At night when he was done working he had his own little hole under the stairs, just big enough for him to lie stretched out and sleep, it was warm in the winter - which was nice - but horribly so in the summer, but at least he was dry so he kept the complaints to a minimum. And then the king declared a ball in honor of his youngest son turning eighteen and everybody worked day and night to clean the ball room and all the rooms where the guests would be sleeping. Curtains and ancient tapestries were cleaned and even the walls, floors and ceilings were scrubbed. Windows were polished along with door knobs, silverware and crystal glasses. An army of tailors were commandeered to make sure everybody, from the stable boys to the king himself wore clothes that were clean, fit and without holes. The only person to avoid them was Thousandfurs, on the solemn promise that he would make sure none of the high lords and ladies could lay eyes on him. When the night of the ball came nobody could contain their nervousness or excitement, and Thousandfurs went to the cook, begging for a short break, so that he could go see the lords, ladies and princes. And because the cook was a nice man he allowed Thousandfurs to go, on the conditions that he would be back within an hour and he would make sure nobody saw him. So he took an oil lamp with him to his ‘room’ where he left the mantle, washed his hands and face and dressed in pants he’d brought with him and then the shirt that was dark as the night. When he entered the ball room it was as if his shirt consumed the lights and made him glow, and everybody was stunned at the sight of such a handsome stranger. The only person moving was a man with dark blonde hair, and the greenest eyes Thousandfurs had ever seen, and he was walking right towards him. Thousandfurs stood still, tilting his head slightly as the green eyed man came to a halt in front of him, bowing and reaching out his hand.

“May I have this dance?” he asked, and when Thousandfurs nodded and took the man’s hand music started playing, and for almost an hour they danced until he remembered that he had to be back in the kitchen and he abruptly pulled his hand from the other’s grasp, bowed and ran out the door. The man tried to follow him, but was stopped by a woman asking for the next dance, and because his father was watching him he had no other option than to dance with her, and lose sight of the handsome man he would’ve wanted to hold on to for forever.

When Thousandfurs returned to the kitchen he was once again covered in soot and was wearing the mantle, but as he went to clean out the fireplace he was stopped by the cook who ordered him to make soup for the princes, because he, too, wanted to get a glimpse of all the festivities, but he should see to it that there would not be as much as a strand of hair therein, or else he would get a beating. So Thousandfurs made a soup as best he could, took the gold bracelet and placed it in the plate before pouring the soup. The soup was then served and the green eyed prince didn’t think he had ever had anything that tasted this good, and imagine his surprise when he was almost done there was a gold bracelet in his food. He had the cook summoned, and demanded to know who’d made the soup. The cook claimed it was him, but the prince told him he had never had soup as good, so he definitely didn’t believe that. At last the cook admitted that Thousandfurs had made the soup, because he refused to wear anything but his mantle of skin, so they couldn’t let him be seen by the guests. The prince then demanded that Thousandfurs was brought before him, so he came, and the prince asked him if he had made the soup, which Thousandfurs confirmed he had. The prince then asked what he was doing in the castle.

“Getting my ears boxed,” came the reply.

And then the prince asked about the bracelet, but Thousandfurs denied knowing anything about any jewelry in the food. So he was excused, and the prince was none the wiser. The guards were questioned about the stranger, that ran from the ball room, too, but of course they couldn’t shine any light on the mystery either. Thousandfurs went about as usual, though maybe he did try to sneak away a little more often to catch a glimpse of the green eyed prince, but basically things went on as before.

But before long the king held another ball, this time in honor of the oldest prince’s birthday. Again Thousandfurs asked if he could go watch, and again he was given an hour. So he washed up and this time he wore the shirt silver as the moon, and again his appearance in the ball room made everybody stop what they were doing. The prince had been expecting him, and immediately went to dance with him. As they were dancing around the room the prince said:

“If you don’t intend to stay, will you at least tell me your name?”

Thousandfurs hadn’t expected that from the prince, and in his surprise it never occurred to him to lie, so in a hushed tone he answered:

“Castiel, your highness.”

Happy that he now had a name for the gorgeous man in his arms, the prince tightened his hold on the slightly smaller man and kept dancing. Again Thousandfurs pulled away when the hour was almost up, bowed and ran away, and again the prince failed to follow him. Returning to the kitchen, in his mantle and covered in soot the cook told Thousandfurs to once again make soup for the princes, threatening with a beating if he got hair in it, and again he did, this time putting the gold necklace on one plate before covering it with the food. Soon the cook was called before the princes, demanding to know who had made the soup, and after a while the cook admitted it was made by Thousandfurs. Again he was called before the green eyed prince, who asked him who he was.

“I’m just a poor orphan, trying to make a living, your highness.”

“And what do you do in the castle?” the prince asked.

“Getting my ears boxed.”

And since he once again claimed no knowledge to the jewelry in the prince’s food he was told to get back to the kitchen.

***

Had it been difficult before, now it was almost impossible for Thousandfurs to just stay in the kitchen. Whenever he saw an opportunity he would sneak out and try to catch a glimpse of the green eyed prince. More than once he caught himself wishing that they could have met when he was prince Castiel, instead of Thousandfurs the kitchen boy, and he even entertained the idea of what it would’ve been like being able to court him as a peer. Since there was nothing to be done about it he tried to push those thoughts out of his mind, and instead being content with the life he had and the brief glimpses of the prince he sometimes got.

Then one day the king once again decided to throw a ball and again everything was scrubbed, polished, painted or fixed up, and at the evening both the palace (with interior) and the people inside it were shining. The guests wore their most magnificent clothes, and everybody wore the most sparkling jewels. The older of the two princes was hovering nervously, wondering if the blue eyed stranger would show up once again, going over his brilliant plan, to finally catch the man and hopefully convince him to stay.

Down in the kitchen the cook was reluctant to let Thousandfurs get away to sneak a peak at the nobility in the ball room. The young man had not been as dutifully about his work the past months as he had been before the first ball. And then of course there was the business with the soup and the mysterious jewelry, and the risk of angering the king enough that the cook himself would suddenly be out of a job. But he wasn’t an unkind man so in the end he gave into Thousandfurs’ pleas and let him go watch the ball, but only for half an hour this time. So Thousandfurs hurried to his place under the stairs, washed off and dressed in the sapphire blue shirt before hurrying to the ballroom. He was barely inside the doors, before the green eyed prince held him in his arms and they were dancing again. Thousandfurs rested his head on the other man’s chest breathing in the smell of him and letting it calm him. He was so lost in the pleasant feeling of this, that he didn’t notice the prince tangling a gold chain in his hair. Neither did he notice the time passing by, and he was startled when there was a striking of the hour, so when he got back to the kitchen there was no time for changing, and he just threw the mantle over his finery. Again the cook told him to make the soup while he went watching the ball, and this time Thousandfurs placed the gold ring on the plate before covering it with the soup. The prince barely tasted it before he found the ring, and this time Thousandfurs was called immediately. Once again the prince asked him who he was, and again Thousandfurs said he was an orphan, trying to make a living, and when asked what he was doing the usual reply of getting his ears boxed was given. At this the green eyed prince looked at him, and asked:

“And your name?”

Thousandfurs opened his mouth as if to answer, but immediately shut it again, blushing slightly, before he said:

“Thousandfurs, your highness.”

At this the prince looked at him, the dark hair, ruffled but clean, the blue eyes, and there, at the collar of the mantle, a sparkle that matched the eyes. Becoming nervous under the intense gaze, Thousandfurs shifted a little, and the light caught on the gold chain in his hair. At this the green eyed prince decided action was better than words, and he reached out, grabbed the mantle and tore it open. Arching an eyebrow he said:

“Really? Cause last you told me it was Castiel”, the green eyed prince looked expectantly a Thousandfurs who just nodded timidly, “and, as far as I know,” he continued at the nod, “most kitchen boys don’t own jewelry.”

So Thousandfurs told them everything, about his father’s dying wish and how he had given them what he thought was an impossible task when his mother proposed to marry him, and how he ran away when it turned out to not be impossible, and nobody had seemed to be willing to see reason. Then how he had ended up at the castle and had become infatuated with the prince. At this he once again looked nervous, as if anybody would punish him for it, but instead the green eyed prince gave him a happy smile, admitting to have had many a sleepless night since first seeing the other man. 

***

Then there was the tedious process of courting each other, but on a wonderful summer’s day the were wed in the palace garden, and they lived happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read this fairy tale you should go do it.


End file.
